Trafalgar Square
The Four Plinths in Trafalgar Square have in the past decade become a place where contemporary is publicly centered amongst a historic backdrop. The sculptures in the past have mostly been a social commentary (link here for past plinths). The square is riddled with tourists every where and small crowds here and there of tourists, taking pictures with the giant stone lions, or the fountains of the court yard. The Square is right in front of The National Gallery.
The Four Plinths in Trafalgar Square have in the past decade become a place where contemporary is publicly centered amongst a historic backdrop. The sculptures in the past have mostly been a social commentary (link here for past plinths). The square is riddled with tourists every where and small crowds here and there of tourists, taking pictures with the giant stone lions, or the fountains of the court yard. The Square is right in front of The National Gallery.
The plinth itself has its own history, having been left blank, since the original statue to go on there lost it's funding in 1841. The plinth commission only started in 1999, so this is fair contemporary idea. (This is post modern to say the least). But thinking about the plinth on its own, and the obvious parallel to a pedestal, the function in a slightly different way. Pliths, are usually in honor of someone (or something) for a moment in history that people, usually, in their own time, deem note worthy for history's records. This fourth plinth rotates, and speaks or doesn't speak about specific evens, moments, or people if the artist doesn't want to.
The current plinth by Yinka Sonnibare references it's own site specificity. The artist used textiles that are the hallmark of the bodies of work he is known most exclusively for about the Britain's textile trade, commenting on (lack of) fair trade, and the interconnection of cultures through this partcular type of trade. He then calls the piece Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, referencing the site. He seems to coyly be playing on the grand notion of the plinth, but the belittling it with a nonsensical ship in a bottle.
The current plinth by Yinka Sonnibare references it's own site specificity. The artist used textiles that are the hallmark of the bodies of work he is known most exclusively for about the Britain's textile trade, commenting on (lack of) fair trade, and the interconnection of cultures through this partcular type of trade. He then calls the piece Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, referencing the site. He seems to coyly be playing on the grand notion of the plinth, but the belittling it with a nonsensical ship in a bottle.
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